My husband and I have wanted to visit the Austin Aquarium since it opened, and finally made it happen this weekend. We were pretty pumped about it, and I guess we had a certain expectation in our heads.... OUR ASSUMPTION: We thought there'd be some kind of pathway for visitors to quietly go through and safely marvel at the sea creatures behind glass, one section at a time, with educational literature and/or voiceovers going on so we'd learn something about the animals and their natural habitats, etc... We knew there would probably be a lot of kids, but figured we could handle that. THE HARSH REALITY: It's in a strip mall! There were children all over, running amok. One kid's hands were in the tortoise's face, trying to force-feed lettuce to him... Another kid's hands were in the water, teasing SHARKS. A teen's hands casually grabbed a large parrot that clearly did not want to be picked up, and took many selfies with it. WAY too many animals within very easy arm's reach of the public, with NO staff members in sight! There was nothing to LEARN about these animals. No one to teach it. Visitors were expected to interact with, handle, and feed the animals any ol' time they want. There were a few cage-free parrots & a cockatoo, an iguana that could easily get out of its tank (which is an old boat) or a kid could hop right in... An extremely old, semi-blind tortoise with flies all over it that lived with a black throated monitor, the latter of which was sleeping or dead... Kids could easily hop into that area too... There were really sad looking caiman crocodiles just floating in the water, which was over crowded with gigantic fish. And there were many large fish tanks: one was COMPLETELY OVER CROWDED with koi, another had sting rays which you could feed (that's the one part I enjoyed), and another had sharks & other sea life. I was appalled everywhere I looked... In lieu of staff monitoring each area for safety, there were simple warning signs posted... Y'know, the kind of signs with WORDS.. the kind of words you have to be old enough to READ, and wise enough to seek... Kids don't look at signs. Most kids are morons! And it's worse when the parents aren't watching closely. This just felt so wrong to me. And how could there not be a marine biologist in sight?? Or anyone who knows anything about the animals? It might as well be a Chuck E. Cheese with boobytraps. It's not worth the anxiety. - - - - Wait, I just did some research on the owners, brothers Ammon & Vince Covino... . . . So.. this is just a company that wants your money. It has nothing to do with the city or community! They own other aquariums as well - in San Antonio, TX & Portland, OR (3 stars or under on Yelp)... One of the brothers, Ammon went to FEDERAL PRISON for a year for trafficking wildlife (including 4 eagle rays & 2 lemon sharks) from Florida to the Idaho & Portland locations without a permit because, "Who gives a shit, man?" ... And their Portland location had 200 animal deaths within a 3-month period. Lots of bad juju here!! Feel free to Google "Austin Aquarium owners" or "San Antonio Aquarium owners" for more info... I honestly don't think these articles would exist if these were good, ethical people. So it's chaotic, unsafe, AND unethical. All good reasons to NOT take your kids here! (I was corrected about something and I'd like to clarify: They USED to own the one in Boise, ID, but thankfully that one is under new management as a 501 c(3) non-profit and has nothing to do with these guys. They're now called Aquarium of Boise, which explains why their site is similar but waaaay, better, and talks a lot about education... Good for them!) And FYI, it's no use commenting with anything negative on any of their actual FB pages... They'll just delete it & block you... But there ARE "boycott" Facebook pages! -- "Boycott Austin Aquarium", "Boycott San Antonio Aquarium", and "Boycott Portland Aquarium". I think it's important that the people know that these are just greedy for-profit businesses. read more

Uh, the Austin Aquarium sucks. Like, really bad. $14 dollars down the drain. I should have got my money back but I was so depressed, I just wanted to leave. I brought my two year toddler. He was so freaked out by this place - there is like no lighting, it's almost pitch black, like a bad 80's nightclub. Impossible to see anything. Half the exhibits were empty. WTF? The playscape for kids was so dark my kid was terrified of using it. It's a sad place. I feel sorry for the employees - the seemed to be trying - but the management here has got it all wrong here. What a miserable, sad experience. A blight on our fine city. Avoid at all costs. Go to the pet store instead - they got better lighting. read more

My family has purchased an annual pass for the past several years, and we have never been disappointed. Our grandchildren (aged 8 and 10) love interacting with the animals. The staff are always eager to share information about the animals. I do recommend going during less busy hours of operation because Saturdays are popular times for birthday parties, and the aquarium is very, very crowded. Also, when the attraction is less busy, you may be able to hold an African grey parrot on your arm or pet the yellow python. read more

I really went with an open mind, knowing the place wasn't quite ready yet...but I was still so disappointed. The place is tiny and dark and even if I knew nothing about the owner's legal issues, I would still be concerned about the environment. For one thing, why have a young Macaw that bites out in a cage where children can reach it? Why do so many of the reptiles and amphibians have artificial plants in their habitats? I've seen tanks where you can touch rays and sharks before, but why have one where they have no where to go if they don't want to be bothered? Why is the future otter habitat so tiny and unprotected? Why is the eating and play area so dark? If you want kids to wash their hands before they touch the fish, why are the sinks out of the way in dark corners instead of right by the room entrance? I'm going to keep an eye on the reviews and give it another chance in a few months, but I can't say I'm very optimistic. read more

I wasn't expecting much as I'd heard some pretty bad things about the people who owned it but it was worse than I could have imagined. Over 1/2 of the tanks are still empty and although I don't know anything about taking care of anything other than a dog, I can't imagine that what was going on in there was right. In addition, there was a small play area in the back corner that was so dark I found it hard to watch my niece that I brought. I had to make her get out for fear that the playing would end in a trip to the emergency room. There was no staff monitoring and only a green grass rug at the bottom of the slide to catch the kids as they came out. It was overcrowded, understaffed, and all around unpleasant. I can't imagine I will ever go again or recommend that anyone goes. read more

We paved paradise and put up a parking lot. This place is unbelievable... I need to take a moral shower. I'd rate it a 5 for kids entertainment, 0 on marine education, 10 on capitalism education. The place is so temporary it is disgusting. Right down to the light fixtures that hang from the wall. This is purely a montey machine, I only wished i had thought of it! The only thing it needs is wheels so the tractor trailers can pull it to the next town once Austin gets tired of it. I am disappointed that our greedy government couldn't put a stop to something like this. I am now going to trade in my Hummer for a Prius and reconsider everything i am teaching my children in this world. We are getting what we deserve. read more

So I had read all of the negative press about this place but really wanted to see it for myself before writing it off. My worst expectations were exceeded..... The fact that it was put up in a strip mall was my first clue that this place was not totally professional. Second, many of the non-marine animals are in enclosures that have fake plastic plants, which I think is just a very sad thing to do to an animal. A lot of the reptiles were huddled right near their heat lamps which leads me to believe that the enclosures are not properly temperature controlled. The petting tanks were just kind of gross. They have signs up asking people to wash their hands before interacting with the exhibits but there was no one around to enforce it. So, there were tons of grubby child hands in the water and the water sort of smelled bad and looked a little dirty. I really felt sort of sorry for all of the animals involved. The worst part of our visit was the "aviary" - It was closed with a sign that said " we are resting" but these birds were not resting. They were viciously attacking one another. It is very apparent that they had male birds together that shouldn't be housed together. They were rolling around in the saw dust, tearing at each other and shrieking. It was really disturbing. For a city like Austin which is a no-kill city and has organizations like Austin Pets Alive, I really can't believe we have allowed this happen in our town. Don't waste your money or time at this place. Hopefully it will get shut down before they are able to bring in the otters they were advertising (By the way, the otters appear to be destined to share an open tank with some small crocodiles so that seems completely insane so hopefully they won't actually do that) read more

We visited the Austin Aquarium on March 25, for the second time. Needless to say, we will never go back. When we arrived and were purchasing our tickets, I asked the young lady helping us how many tokens were required for the sloth encounter, since that was the main reason we were there (at the request of our 6 year old daughter). She told me it would be 20 tokens for our daughter, but that she would be require an adult be with her as well, which meant 20 tokens for myself or my husband as well. I knew she would want to do some other things that required tokens, so I purchased the pack of 50 tokens for $120. Add to this the price of admission for myself, my husband and our daughter, and it cost us almost $200. We made our way through the aquarium, and once we were done, we decided to visit the lemur enclosure before moving to the sloth enclosure. We walked over to the lemur enclosure, and there was no attendant. I asked the girl at the front desk, where she then paged the "mammal team". She informed me that they were finishing up a training meeting, and that it would be about 10 minutes. 30 minutes later, still no attendant. I asked her again and she said, "They are just about done." 10 minutes later, someone finally showed up. There were only 3 of us, but we weren't allowed to go into the enclosure with multiple lemurs, but instead we were put in the smallest enclosure with one lemur. The encounter lasted about 2 minutes. I then asked the young man to point us in the direction of the sloth, where I was then informed that the sloth encounter wasn't open because a new baby sloth was brought in, and they were trying to get them acclimated. He also informed us that the otter encounter was closed as well. He could sense my frustration, and asked if I wanted to see the manager, which I did. The girl at the front desk paged the manager on the radio/walkie-talkie to let her know that there was a guest that would like to talk to her. The manger asked "if it was urgent, or could it wait a few minutes". I told her we were done waiting and therefore it was urgent. The manger came to the front desk and asked what she could help us with. I told her our issue. She asked if we were told when we paid, that the sloth encounter wasn't open, in which I quickly informed her we were NOT. Why would I have purchased 50 tokens, knowing that we couldn't see the sloth???? I told her we wanted a refund, to which she quickly said she could not do. She told us that it states very clearly on their website that there will be no refunds given for tokens. She said that we could take the tokens to the San Antonio location to see the sloth there, that we could use the tokens on passes for another visit, or that we could use the tokens in the gift store or the concession area. WHAT????? I asked again for a refund, and was told no. I could understand if it were 10 or 20 tokens, but we were standing there holding a bag of 40 tokens (we used 10), valued at $80. You don't do that to your customers. You find a way to make it right. My husband and I were livid, but did not want to make a scene in front of our daughter. We turned and walked out the door, and my husband handed the bag of tokens to a woman coming in with two small boys. We will NEVER go back, and we will definitely share this experience with our friends/family. Not a good move Austin Aquarium, not a good move at all. Sunny read more

This is a good aquarium for what it is...What do I mean? Well, its an aquarium in a strip mall. It's not bad, but definitely not fancy. I am a little spoiled being from the West Coast where there is the Aquarium of the Pacific in Long Beach, CA, Monterrey Aquarium in Monterrey, CA, and even the Aquarium of the Pacific on Maui which are all simply amazing. This is not that type of aquarium. However, it is a great aquarium for small children or something a little different to do during the day. I have a 2 year old and she loves this place! We actually have an annual pass because we go pretty regularly. Right now they are 50% off, which means if you plan on going more than 3 times in the next 12 months, it is totally worth it! This place is great for toddlers and small kiddos because it usually isn't crowded. The big ones are hard to get up to see the tanks because they are so packed. At this location, you can take your time and not be rushed. You also aren't going to lose your kid in a mass of people. They also have a lot of tanks with low windows so the short kids can see without you having to pick them up to look at everything. It's much easier on the back for sure! It also isn't huge, so your kid will have fun without getting bored or tired. It's also nice because they have more than just fish to look at. There is a small playground in the back, which is a hit my with my kid. They also have some birds, lizards, snakes (eewwww), frogs, and other animals to look at. This aquarium does need a little work though on their exhibits. In a lot of areas, you can see pipes and other things that aren't usually visible to the public. It takes away from the ambiance a bit. Also, the hand washing stations have the reusable towel thing to dry your hands. I get they want to be green, but I do not like them. You never know what's on them. Let's face it, kids are gross and get nasty stuff all over the place. I would mush rather a different, more sanitary hand drying system. Overall, this is an okay place. If you want to go do something for an hour or so, check it out. read more

I waffled between a two and a three on this one. Pros: Feeding tanks were awesome Got to feed mantas Got to feed sharks Got to feed parrots Cons: It took my 6 year old and me about 45 minutes to leisurely traverse the entire 'aquarium' No awesome displays (in fact, the displays were no more impressive than most people's sea water fish tanks) Basically, I really wanted this place to at least be okay. In part because I hate PETA and they've been having a field day but I also really love aquariums. I know that having lived in coastal States may have ruined me for other aquariums, but all I really wanted was a decent aquarium that would showcase some awesome sea life. I really think they could have done so much more with the space they have and I wish they hadn't devoted 1/4 of the space to retail. My 6 year old really enjoyed the petting tanks. She liked feeding the mantas, sharks, and birds. The rest bored her. The mermaids didn't impress her and straight up creeped me out. In my opinion, this is well suited to 'learning to walk' toddlers but severely overpriced for anyone else. read more

I really really wanted to like this place, since we paid for a family pass about 6m ago, but even at half price I don't think it's worth it. I don't see us going there very often. First of all, it is so dark in there that my 2.5yo son was terrified. It took us a while to convince him to even go in. I had our 6m old in the ergo on the front if me and I kept tripping over kids because it's so dark I couldn't see anything around me. I have never been to an aquarium that is this dark. I wonder what they are trying to hide. Second, I wonder about the health of the animals in all the touch tanks. Kids are dirty, it's so dark that I never saw the sinks until we were most of the way through it. Half the tanks were empty when we were there. Hope they fill them up soon. Also, the play scape in the back looks good, when I use the flashlight on my phone. Our son refused to go near it. At least turn on the lights there, for Pete's sake! read more

It is what it is. It's an aquarium in a strip mall next to a Salvation Army. As long as you don't go in with any expectations you won't be displeased. I loved the Lorikeet exhibit! read more

Needs A LOT of work. I know it hasn't been open for a while, but it's obvious the opened early just to meet the Holiday season for the $$$. Several walls look incomplete and most of their signs look like homemade garage sale signs. There was some trash and cinder blocks outside of the front door, which looks really bad. Just a lot of small things that add up to a lot. The exhibits were fun and interesting. The "please touch" feature is great for kids. It's definitely worth going for an hour or so, but I'd honestly rather spend the time and drive to a more mature, robust aquarium. read more

What a sad, sad place to call an aquarium. Even the animals look sad. The pros: -you get to feed and touch some of the animals -they have pretty birds that land on you when you feed them -huge gift shop with overpriced items from China -kids surprisingly liked it since it's the only aquarium in Austin (why I gave them 2 stars, instead of 1) The cons: -definitely NOT worth the money -place reeks of dead fish right when you walk in and lingers -was told they had 8,000 animal? More like 7,000 khoi fish and barely anything else -they don't seem to clean their tanks -khoi tank was overpopulated and dirty -they only had 2 jellyfish -you can literally go through the whole place in 10 mins or less -like others have mentioned, in a strip mall which is pretty much a red flag -you see wires and cables everywhere on the ceiling read more

No, it is not SeaWorld, but for the lower cost and close proximity to my house, this place is amazing! Sharks, eels, rays, reptiles, lots of cool stuff! I've been to Legoland's SeaLand in Cali and Houston's Aquarium, and though they we were larger, I can't say they were dramatically better (even though their prices are *way* more than Austin's). On my most recent visit... I took 10 kids (cub scouts and siblings) on a guided tour, and it was a great visit! It was about an hour long, and the kids were constantly fascinated and enjoyed all of the exhibits. Their favorites were the tank where they could pet the Rays and the shark tank. You can usually pet the sharks, but had been closed off (to our disappointment, but then amazement!) because one shark was laying eggs, and they had the eggs on display in a nearby tank. Very cool stuff!! I'm a big fan of the aquarium and think it is a great addition to Austin! BTW, I know there are/were some controversy/legal issues with the owner, but frankly, if it's illegal, then it will get shutdown... I bought my wife a diamond ring, I drive a gasoline car, I eat fast food, I'm not a vegan, and so on... so, I don't think I have much position to be ethically-righteous. In the meantime, I'll just enjoy the amazing education opportunity! read more

Save your money and just head to the fish aisle at Petco or PetSmart. You'll learn about the same and it's a bit cleaner. This is an "aquarium" in a strip mall in what used to be an "everything must go" furniture store. It looks like a movie set. From a certain angle is looks cool, but look around and you start the see the facade melt away. I've seen better "aquariums" at Chinese Markets. If you have money to waste and 30 extra minutes, knock yourself out, but don't say you weren't warned. read more

This place is overpriced for what you get. Took us 30 minutes max. It seemed several fish tanks were slowly leaking. There was hardly any staff around to even direct on proper handling/touching of the animals. The smell was absolutely terrible...could even smell it through our masks. It was a dirty and foul smelling place. Would NOT recommend. Go to Petco to see fish and reptiles, the animals appear better cared for there. read more

Serica, why would you not like our city's aquarium downtown? It would be a much better location! 1. The tourist are already checking out the downtown area, and if they saw we had an aquarium, they would go to it. This means more money for the business. 2. Downtown is a much more attractive location than upstream Austin. There are GREAT restaurants, museums, and historical sixth street. The only downside would be the parking. If you're going to open up a small (but GOOD; not like Austin Aquarium) aquarium, downtown is a great place to do it.If you're going to open up a BIG aquarium, read the conclusion in my original review. read more

I am so depressed after visiting the Austin Aquarium. I feel for the welfare of the animals. How can so many sea creatures and land animals be stuck in such small quarters / habitats? When we saw it was in a strip mall, I was concerned about even going in, however, I wanted to keep an open mind. Plus, my child was excited about seeing Sting Rays. The moment we walked in, I did not have a good feeling. The cost of entry was outrageous! Then seeing the shabby animal displays and hearing the cries of the birds sent sadness throughout my being. I'm so depressed and cannot believe a place like this can exist as a business. I am sure the people who work here and run this have a love for animals and sea creatures. So this is not a critique of the staff. Instead, I'm concerned about the facility and housing so many animals in such confining spaces. read more

We received a family membership for Christmas but when we got to the aquarium, they could not find us in the system. The cashier just took our word for it and entered us in the computer. I wasn't expecting the aquarium to be super fancy since it's in such a small space but it was still very disappointing. It was dirty, dark and a lot of the screens listing the animals in each exhibit weren't working. There were quite a few touch tanks and no one was enforcing the rules at all. I saw many people with their arms fully in the water trying to grab fish and it just seemed like a really dirty and stressful environment for the animals. My daughter typically loves aquariums but she was not into this at all. I doubt we'll be back even though we have a membership. The place is really depressing. read more

Friendly staff. Token system didn't make sense. Dark and must environment. Small and cramped. The kids asked "why did you bring us here?"

Finally got a chance to visit. I wish I hadn't. I was extremely excited when I first heard Austin was getting an aquarium. And after delays and red tape, I was still looking forward to Austin having it's very own aquarium. Even after discovering that the location was the shell of an old grocery store, I maintained a bit of optimism. Today I finally went, and was thoroughly disappointed. The entire place looks unfinished, the exhibits are uninspiring, and overall the place felt sleazy. Dark corners everywhere, the scariest play scape ever, and unenthusiastic workers also contribute to making this a poor excuse for a proper aquarium. I wanted to say that it may be still worth the trip for the kids, but the truth is that mentality may keep this place afloat. I'd much rather see people hold on to their hard earned money and show the owners that inferior products don't deserve our patronage. For the record, it's absolutely worth the 3 hour drive from here to Dallas to visit the aquarium there! Had the owners done that, perhaps they'd have known where the bar was set, and not tried to pass this place off. read more

Now this place is divey (strip center aquarium...says volumes) but man the kids had a blast- this isn't like the aquariums that you drop 85 bucks to get in and look...this is hands on and fun- now is it best for the animals? Heck I ain't no research biologist but they seemed to be having fun too...the hokie "mermaid" is great for the littles and all in all it was a great place to burn some time...if you want an upscale aquarium..................DO NOT COME HERE- but if you want some fun times and memories with your kids or friends make the trip. Y read more

Took the family here yesterday for the first (and last) time yesterday. We didn't hate it, but it was highly underwhelming. Since both our kids are under 2, we only had to pay for the adults, but even with the online discount it was still $25 for the two of us, and that was too much for what the aquarium offers. The place was large - if I remember correctly, it used to be a furniture store. The touch tanks were pretty cool, and we enjoyed seeing the stingrays and small sharks, but other than that, the place just felt unfinished, not very clean, and the exhibits weren't very exciting. The tanks were dingy, and several of the larger ones had signs stating that the animals were off exhibit - which of course is fine if that's what the animal needs, but I suspect a few of the larger exhibits might have not actually had animals for them at all. Overall, it would have been a fine way to spend 40 minutes or so, if it had been cheaper, but ultimately it just fell flat. read more

UPDATE: I was reading other reviews about the owners of this establishment and decided to do my own research; I was appalled. They traffic animals, have had over 200 die in establishments in a 3 month period, and went to prison for trafficking animals. No wonder this place is so worn down and the animals looked dead, they probably are almost there... Original post: We took my 5 year old nephew here and he loved it so for that it gets the one star. The overall aquarium was sadly depressing. The tanks were incredibly small for the size/amount of sea life that were in each tank. In the hands on tank with the sea stars there was no one monitoring them to make sure the kids didn't misuse/take them. 80% of the tanks were cloudy and covered with algae. In the koi tank there were hundreds when there should have been much less for the size of the tank. Another small tank had gigantic fish and crocodiles in it with no room to swim. One crocodile looked dead floating in the water because it was so over crowded. The tortoise had flys all around it. The bird cages were filthy and needed to be larger. The lighting was poor. There needed to be some fresh sun light in it. The employees lacked knowledge. It desperately needs to be cleaned, repainted, and the tanks expanded or needs to have the appropriate amount of sea life in them. We have been to aquariums all over the country (most where they only allow local sea life/sea life that can't be released into the wild) and this was the absolute worst. It is an embarrassment to the city. It needs staff who truly care and are knowledgeable. It lacked the presence of a marine biologist or specialist. I didn't want to leave a bad review because I live in Austin and love it but this place desperately needs a face life and I will not be returning. It does not represent Austin. read more

Took our 5 & 7 year old grandkids here on one of their Fall break days from school. Was kinda weary about it being in an older strip mall setting, but was so pleasantly surprised by the amount of fish, birds, lemurs, other activities located in this space. It was clean, staff very friendly and the "hands-on encounters" were soooo enjoyed by the grandkids!! The one thing you should be aware of is the individual cost for tokens to have these encounters which are actually higher than the cost of admission and could become a bit pricey. However, that said, I'm sure the token price is what keeps this facility at its current pleasing level of enjoyment and pays for the upkeep of all the wildlife. Nice job, Austin! read more

Huge disappointment! Don't waste your money on this shoddy establishment. I took my family today to visit the "new aquarium". They partially renovated an old store in a strip mall with some temporary partitions, painted the concrete floors and installed a handful of tanks. It is nothing more than a glorified fish shop with electrical wiring hanging down from the ceilings and bad paintings. One would be better off visiting a free fish store than paying $14.50 a person to see a few tanks of fish. read more

Austin Aquarium - Austin Aquarium front entry- budget must have been a big problem. - Aquariums Near Me - Austin, Texas

Having been to over 100 zoos and aquariums around the country, I can say that the Austin Aquarium is nothing special. It's fine for local families looking for something to do with small kids, but it is way overpriced. The cost is about the same as the Downtown Aquarium in Houston, but the quality isn't even close. The cost is double what the Houston Zoo charges, and inside that zoo is an aquarium about the same size as the Austin Aquarium. This aquarium was done on a low budget (relatively speaking), and they keep it way too dark inside so that you don't notice. As far as animal care goes, they allow people to touch fish that are way too small for the stress and they keep parrots who need lots of sunshine inside the dark building all day. The owners have a history of legal problems with other aquariums. Bottom line, if you can't travel, don't mind paying a lot without getting much in return, have children that like animals, and don't mind supporting a company with a shady past, then go. Other than that, stay away. read more

Admittedly I have very high standards in this area, having been to many great Aquariums, including the Dallas World Zoo (which I would highly recommend), and the Monterey Bay Aquarium many times. In a nut shell I would say that this new local Aquarium is an over hyped commercial venture in a strip mall. It's not the strip mall that is the problem so much so as it's the aquarium attempting to make due in a building designed for retail, and it seems more focused on being a commercial venture than a place designed to maintain a healthy fish and reptile habitat. It's a very small number of exhibits for the fee, and they make every attempt to make additional money by encouraging parents to purchase "tokens" to buy feed for the fish and birds - which was a large turn-off for me (we fed the birds for no additional charge at the Dallas World Zoo). Additionally the facility is designed so people enter and exit through the gift shop. Visited here on a Saturday afternoon with my GF and two sons (ages 6 and 10) last weekend. Overall the boys had a good time, and it's not a bad 1 hour stop for the kids if there is nothing else to do, but I can't imagine purchasing a membership and coming here regularly, it's just not big enough for that. They are also set up to host parties, and have a play area for kids under 7, which I find odd - because it's the kids under 7 who might get the most out of the exhibits. Staffing was very sparse during our time there, and some of the exhibits were offline or signs were missing. Meh is all I have to say about this place. Next! read more

My husband and I visited the Austin Aquarium on a Sunday as a small day date. I come from Corpus Christi and the aquarium in CC is pretty awesome. Tons of exhibits and a bunch of shows. The Austin aquarium was extremely disappointing. When we walked in it looked shabby almost right away. We paid $30 to enter and I think that is extremely overpriced for what you get. Even with stopping at each "exhibit" and reading about each one it only took us about 15 minutes to walk through the whole thing. The floors were wet and dirty. There were dead fish in some of the tanks. The aquarium is described as an "interactive" aquarium. You basically get to pet a sting ray and touch some shells. If I could have asked for my money back I would have, but I figured there was no point since we had already gone through the entire thing. There was no one around the tell us anything about any of the sea life and that's probably my favorite thing about the aquarium. Save your money and skip this place. Way too expensive for a less than mediocre experience. Trust me on this one. read more

Let me be the first to say that although I love animals, I am not an animal rights activist. I believe that while we have dominion over the animals, that comes with the responsibility to take care of them. I am absolutely mesmerized when I see a huge salt-water tank and could watch jellyfish for hours on end. But that said, there was not one thing that made this place any different than any place else. I knew I wasn't signing up for anything longterm and despite the high-pressure to buy a family membership I had no intention of doing so. For someone who is supposed to be an expert in running these businesses, I was surprised it looked so carelessly run. If you want to seemarine animals in a safe and clean environment, just go to the Rainforest Cafe. At least you will get a decent meal there. Jacques Cousteau is somewhere right now rolling over in his grave. read more

Be careful not to get ripped off if your kiddos broke something around the gift shop. They will claim it is the item they sell in the shop, but without a price tag. Then you have to pay a ridiculous high price according to their "system". Like others said this place is disappointing, but it is not bad for younger kids. So our mother group planned an activity at this place on a rainy day. My 2-year old accidently broke an 8" pumpkin plate placed on a side table for decoration outside the entrance to the aquarium. No staff came out to ask if anyone got hurt, no staff came to sweep the floor. Remember we have a group of kids under 4 years old. The only thing they did is asking us to pay for the plate, telling us it is one of the items they sell in the gift shop, and the price for that item is $19.99 plus tax. The interesting thing is this is the only pumpkin plate in the shop. They can't show me how they found out the price for it. It's just "in the system". So I got a receipt showing the name of the item my son broke is "Ceramic trtl Jwlr". The plate is ceramic, but is definitely not Turtle Jewelry. Thanks to the label on the back of the plate, I finally found the exactly same plate sold in Walmart for only $1.96, and I got my $21.64 back from Amy who is the assistant manager of customer service but knowing nothing about customer service. Rude attitude and always pretended on the phone while talking to me. The other staffs are more polite. To the owner, put your business under more professional management. Dishonesty and greed will only drive your customers away! read more

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Edit: link to PETA notice about this aquarium. I don't like PETA normally but take a read. http://www.peta.org/media/news-releases/peta-calls-investigation-potential-cruelty-violations-austin-aquarium/ Your first impression pulling up to this will be correct. You are in the wrong place to see fish. Nestled in next to Salvation Army in the dilapidated shopping center are the front doors to the aquarium, which appears to have been a kamart in its previous life. Small dark and poorly constructed are the descriptors. Unimpressive, pet store quality, and sad like the puppy store in the mall is the feeling. I honestly wouldn't believe it if I didn't see it for myself. As a Texan I am not use to seeing things done with such little pride. This place is an embarrassment to the city of Austin and the great state of Texas. It needs to be closed. You can't help but feel sad for the non-fish animal inhabitants. Having birds in the dark is ridiculous. The macaw was particularly depressing. The large tortoise that they had tried to climb the dived between his pen and the large fish aquarium and commit suicide. He almost made it. I am so regretful that my money will be used to keep this place open. I will gladly help with a larger donation to get it closed. read more

I loved all the hands on interaction with the animals. I thought was only going to be sea life but really it's a small zoo. The stingrays were the best! I could not get my two grand daughters to leave. One is 11 and the other is 23 read more

I didnt want to go after reading the reviews but my husband wanted to take our 3 year old daughter. Lets just say I could of use our $50 for a better cause. The place is just sad and dirty, all of the glass and water was dirty. Plus, the animals look misarable and hungry. As soon as you put your hand over the water they jump and fight one another for food. Way to many fishes/animals per tank/cage. Since most tanks are open so you can feed them, kids are constantly touching the water and at one point I saw a teenage girl touching the tortoise(which was full of files) extremely hard, even the lady that was next to her had to tell her something. Yes, I understand that every aquarium is different and this one is small but to keep the animals like that is just depressing. Please stay away from this place hopefully those poor animals get transfer to a much better bigger place. Children should not see this kind of treatment towards animals. Will never return. read more

I was really excited to go check out the Austin Aquarium with my kids when moved here. They advertise Mermaid encounters on their site and this was intriguing! When I pulled into the dingy parking lot, I immediately became apprehensive. I had bought tickets on Groupon, so why not give it a try? My kids and I walked in and were taken back by the mildew smell & stench of critters living in this god-awful building. The tanks were unkempt; algae was growing rampant. The tortoise looked like it has never seen the actual sunlight. The bird encolsure had crap everywhere. The mermaids looked more similar to Ursula, holding giant skinks and snakes, rather than the whimsical sea creatures they ought to be. We left as quickly as possible and I even recieved a refund from Groupon. I will never ever go back. I would rather wait out the year to visit our hometown San Diego and give the kids a proper aquarium visit. The Austin Aquarium is nothing more than a large, smelly, dank, dark collection of mediocre fish and overpriced merchandise. If you really need an aqaurium visit, I suggest you find a pet store which will likely be much cleaner or drive to Sea World. read more

Austin Aquarium - Aquariums Near Me - Austin, Texas

Great place to see a bunch of different animals! You can feed most of the reptiles and fish here. read more

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I wrote this about 6 months ago, but forgot to confirm my accounts, so it only shows up now... I got a half priced family membership before they opened. Honestly, I don't think it was worth it. This place is WAY overpriced. I was very disappointed and agree with others that the website was misleading on what it would be like. I've taken the kids twice in the 7 months I had the membership. I was hoping the second time that things would be slightly improved, but not really. The kids liked it, but it's probably worth about 8 bucks for admission. And I don't like some of the animal habitats because they are too small for the animal. The play ground area sucks. I let my kids go in it once and my 2.5 year old at the time got stuck up on the second level, so daddy had to go save her. She was confused how to get out and it's fully enclosed, so it makes it very difficult for small children to figure out. She wasn't the only confused kid. I will not buy another membership, nor will I recommend it to others. EDIT my views as of today 11/12/2014: We went back a few more times after that since we had the pass, might as well use it. They still haven't done anything much to improve the place and last time they left a large lizard out sitting on the boat with no one watching it. Pretty much any kid could have touch or grabbed it. They also had birds uncaged with just a makeshift border to discourage going toward them, but I didn't see anyone watching it, so if a kid got away from their parents and went to the other side, they could have been hurt by a bird or hurt a bird pretty easily. I don't think we'll be back there again. Membership will be up in a couple weeks and don't have any desire to visit anymore. read more

Austin Aquarium - This lizard was just sitting out on a boat with no one watching it and well within reach of any children passing by. - Aquariums Near Me - Austin, Texas

Just moved to Austin & was excited to see Austin had an aquarium! My first visit did not disappoint, the staff was very friendly the exhibits were all beautiful and nicely kept. We really enjoyed our sloth encounter with Sid the sloth and the super friendly and helpful Ryan. He taught us a lot about Sid & sloths in general, we will definitely be returning to visit our new friends! read more

Listen, don't come in with expectations that this is a big city aquarium. It's not. You might chuckle if you've been to Houston's or Dallas', but we had fun! You can save money by buying tickets online. Staff was friendly. I thought it was an enjoyable afternoon. It is sort of comparable to the Austin Zoo. Not super ornate and fancy, but a really good time anyway! Our favorite activities were petting/feeding the stingrays and going into a big bird cage where little parrots land on you. Be prepared to shell out extra money for bird/fish feed, but once you go, just relax about money and enjoy it. I would go back again! read more